The Local

An App for Savvy Travelers

Prompt: Design a Travel App

Team: 2 for Research and Synthesis, Alone for Design and Testing

Role: Collaborator, All Roles

Designed for: iOs

Tools Utilized: xD, Miro, Photoshop, InDesign, Zoom, and Google Docs

Problem

Travelers face numerous options for planning the perfect trip, but are anxious about over-planning and missing out on the cool local spot that makes the whole trip feel worth it.

Solution

The LOCAL puts travelers in touch with local individuals and businesses in their destination who can recommend must-do’s and collaborate to help make your trip feel extra special.

Challenge

We were challenged to disrupt the travel app market with a unique value proposition.

Approach

Execute qualitative and quantitative research to find a niche to serve in the market
After data synthesis, ideated to develop a Minimal Viable Product
Create testable prototype

Research

Hypothesis

We hypothesized that young professionals have varying stressors that impact planning a trip, and could use more fluid planning tools that mirror their needs to be flexible as situations arise.

Objectives

Learn how young professionals plan for a trip.

Learn what kind of constraints travelers must consider when planning.

See how an app can help young professionals with constraints.

Research Questions

How do people currently make travel plans?
What tools, apps, or websites do they use to make their decisions?
How do they feel about their process?
What are the variables that are critical in their travel planning (i.e. traveling with pets, small children, needing to board pets, organizing housesitters…)
How do people find, plan, and keep track of activities during their trip?
How do people spend their time during a trip?

Actions

8 Interviews, of which I did 4

40 Surveys through Survey Monkey

Data Synthesis

Affinity Diagram

We went through two rounds of synthesizing results. The first round developed initial themes from our research. We decided on another round to refine and hone in on the key themes from our analysis. Clear insights came from this exercise.

Empathy Map

Insights

The quantitative data says that budget is by far the most important thing, but when you start talking to people you hear way more about food and things like that.

One of the main reasons they like flexibility in their trip schedules is in case they hear of something cool or “must see” from a local or other tourist.

Traveling with children opens up whole new challenges in traveling and requires a lot attention in planning.

Google Search is widely used when researching a trip, from hotels and travel, to things to do.

Quotes

“What I really love is getting to [a] place, and a lot of the Airbnbs… have the little binders in the room that tell you, ‘Here’s some things that you can do locally that you should try and places that you should go…. Either that or talking to locals and asking people what they recommend to do in that place, once I get there. I try not to do too much outside planning because then I think it takes away from the spontaneity, being in the place and seeing the Hidden Gems that pop up once you’re there.”

“…generally, when I travel, for me, it’s very stressful to try to schedule very specific things at certain times, just because I like to be prepared if it doesn’t happen… You don’t wanna put things on the schedule or just be prepared if it’s not gonna happen, especially now when you have a kid.”

“Once you’re in Europe and then people talk and you hear, ‘Oh, this is a great place to visit,’ and so you add that to the list.”

Ideation

Problem Statement

The LOCAL was designed to achieve an enhanced trip for savvy, seasoned travelers. We have observed that travelers seek out locals and will even keep an open schedule so they can take advantage of a local’s tip, suggestion, or recommendation. Receiving and acting on a great tip makes the traveler feel streetwise and leave with a positive view of their trip. How might we design The LOCAL so that travelers have a successful trip based on acting on at least one local tip through our app?

Value Proposition Canvas

User Journey

Lo-fidelity Prototype

Lo-Fi Prototype

View the Low-Fidelity Prototype

Guerilla Testing

Objective

The objective is to test the Local App through certain intro flows, including: onboarding, signing up for an account, and reaching major app sections.